


alley shadows

by Darth Occlus (NotSummer)



Series: deliverance [5]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Animals, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Minor Injuries, Pre-Relationship, Realization, Sneaking Around, spontaneous feline acquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 01:32:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15232422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSummer/pseuds/Darth%20Occlus
Summary: “I don’t know. I thought I heard something. The rain is making it hard though.” She cast a glare up towards the sky, and then started to move back, tracing her steps. Jesse stayed still, silent and watching closely. The clouds were covering up the trio of moons that would have given her some much needed light. Instead she was stuck squinting through the rain and trying to use the fractured light thrown out by street signs to peer through the dark.It was too much of a danger to try and ignite one of her lightsabers, and she swung her head back and forth. “There is something here,” she said quietly.~~~~Miyala finds a cat.





	alley shadows

Miyala and Jesse slowly prowled through alleys towards their ship, darting from one shadow to another, eyes peeled for any danger. Miyala suddenly held her hand out, tapping the back of his hand in a silent signal to wait. They weren’t alone. She straightened up slightly, her eyes roving over every nook and cranny and pile of trash in the alley.

To be on the safe side, she slipped her lightsabers into her hands, and Jesse responded by raising his rifle. “What do you sense?” he asked quietly, twisting around looking anything that might have spooked her.

“I don’t know. I thought I heard something. The rain is making it hard though.” She cast a glare up towards the sky, and then started to move back, tracing her steps. Jesse stayed still, silent and watching closely. The clouds were covering up the trio of moons that would have given her some much needed light. Instead she was stuck squinting through the rain and trying to use the fractured light thrown out by street signs to peer through the dark.

It was too much of a danger to try and ignite one of her lightsabers, and she swung her head back and forth. “There is something here,” she said quietly.

“I trust you,” Jesse assured her. “Is it a threat? Or can we move on?” He shifted impatiently, and she looked back at him silhouetted against a street sign behind him. He looked more imposing that way, but not necessarily in a bad way.

She bit her lip and turned back to the alley. “I don’t think it’s a threat. But I don’t want to leave a droid or holocam with footage of us, even if it’s benign, you know?” She jerked her head down and towards her left as something shifted. She was stock still for a moment, and then she pounced, swooping down to push aside trash, ready to fight or yield.

Miyala gasped, and then holstered her sabers before reaching into the pile of garbage. “A baby!”

Jesse was at her side in an instant, immediately projecting horror and protectiveness, and she sheepishly looked up at him. “Well, not a sentient one,” she amended, pulling the tiny kitten out of a bag. It wobbled in her hands, and she could immediately see it was malnourished, even through the sludge and grit matting it’s fur. She couldn’t tell what color it was.

It didn’t even have the strength to mew at her, and she cooed gently at it, trying to be reassuring before she carefully tucked it into her robes, keeping it warm and safe in the heavy folds of fabric. Jesse rolled his eyes, pointedly making an exaggerated looking up motion with his helmet so she knew the expression he was wearing.

“You would have saved the kitten, too,” she pointed out, resting her hand on his gauntlet.

He rolled his shoulders, grumbling something, and then said louder, “We should get back to the ship.” They were still in hostile territory. He stood to the side, sweeping his arm out in a gesturing motion, and she pulled out her dulasabers again, keeping them ready as she moved back up to taking point.

He watched her back like he always did, following her from shadow to shadow and weaving silently through alleys and walkways before they halted at an alley entrance. She held her hand out, crouching down to watch a droid patrol march by.

It was a bunch of B1’s, but their mission was to remain unseen, and taking them out would alert the CIS internal networks that there was intruders on planet. Miyala watched them, frowning. Better to give them something else to focus on.

She reached out her hand, concentrating, and pulled on the Force. The shadows against one of the buildings down the street began to move, writhing angrily. The droid patrol slowed, and then broke their pattern to go investigate.

As they moved off, Jesse and Miyala darted across the street into the spaceport. The halls were barely lit: most of the workers had gone home for the night, and most of the departures and arrivals happened during the day, at least on this planet. Jesse and her prowled through corridors, trying to get to the Occlus.

Miyala stopped at their last turn, and peered around the corner. She jerked back, and then threw her arm out to prevent Jesse from getting closer. She swore under her breath, and then looked up at Jesse. “There’s a magnaguard. Right in front of our hanger door.”

Jesse was silent for a moment, and then his shoulders dropped. “They know we’re here then. No way would they park a Magna right outside a random hanger.”

Miyala nodded, scowling, and then pulled the kitten out of her robes. “Please hold on to it.” She started to move towards the corner, and then stopped, looking back at Jesse. “And jam it’s transmissions?”

“Already done,” he replied, “And you need to think about your priorities.” The kitten, who had fit easily into her own hands, disappeared in his. His gruff tone was undercut by the gentle way he cradled the kitten in his hands, and Miyala smiled before moving back to the corner.

She prowled to the edge, and then flung herself around, putting on a burst of speed enhanced by the Force as she lit her dualsabers. She was hoping the speed would be enough to catch it off guard, but she had no such luck. These droids were built to kill Jedi, after all.

It swatted her out of the air with its staff mid leap, and she winced as her shoulder slammed into the wall. She dove forwards as it swung the staff towards her, and it whistled uncomfortably closer over her head. She spun her blades as she sprang to her feet, and the dual began in earnest.

Both her and droid were hampered by the hallway, and she flicked off one end of each of her sabers, giving her more maneuverability. The damned droid was a good duelist, and she saw Jesse slip around the corner, ready to intervene, but her and the droid were moving too quickly. He risked hitting her instead.

The staff came down in a hard overhead strike, and she put up a barrier. She wasn’t strong enough to deflect a strike like that. The staff rebounded hard, putting the droid off balance, and Miyala saw her opening. She leapt, feet first, knocking the droid over, the staff rolling out of its hands, and she slammed her lightsabers into its power core.

It sparked and died, and she hopped off its chest, turning off the gold and purple blades. She had yet to meet a droid prepared for her barrier skill. After all, they learned from their opponents, and the only other Jedi who had mastered the barrier ability had been her twin sister. Sinyata, though, was long gone.

Jesse had the kitten, so she leaned down, grunting as she wrapped her arms around the droid’s chest. She picked it up, hauling it backwards towards their hanger.

Jesse walked with her, calling out directions and making sure she wasn’t going to trip, and then asked, “Removing the evidence?”

“That, yes,” she replied, “And I thought you might want to take a look at its programming. These bastards are hard to find.” She stopped to readjust her grip, hoping she could stop its metal edges from pressing uncomfortably into her. “If I’m right, then I knocked out it’s power core, but not any processors or data storage.” She started to back up the loading ramp, glad to be back to her ship.

Jesse visibly perked up. “I do like taking apart enemy tech,” he admitted. She stopped to readjust her grip again to compensate for the slant of the loading ramp and he stepped closer to her. “Are you sure you don’t want to trade loads?” He held up the kitten, and then added, “Mine’s a tad bit smaller.”

“Just a bit,” she said, huffing in amusement. “Thank you, but no. I’m finishing this. I got this far.” Her foot tangled in her robe, and she yelped as she tripped backwards, the droid smashing down on top of her.

She could hear Jesse trying to muffle his laughter, and she turned her head to see him bent over, wheezing. “Nice timing,” he choked out, taking his helmet off.

She groaned under the droid, and then pushed up, trying to get it off of her. Her right forearm screamed as she tried to move it though, and she tried to swallow a pained gasp. She didn't muffle it enough and Jesse looked sharply over at her,

Jesse placed the kitten inside his helmet before putting the helmet on the ground, and then hurried over to her, lifting the droid off, and shoving it to the side, sendit it crashing away into the cargo bay. He reached for her arm, and she instinctively pulled back before letting him see it. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, pulling her up, and then pulled his gauntlets off. He ran his bare hands over her skin, feeling for an injury.

She flinched, and he murmured a quiet reassurance to her. He studied the spot where the pain radiated from, and then said quietly, “It’s fractured.” He stood up, and added, “I’m going to get out of this armor and get a medkit.”

Likely, he expected her to stay there, but Miyala grabbed the helmet he left behind, with the kitten sleeping in the bottom of it, and made her way to the refresher. She sat down in the shower after turning on the hot water, carefully placing the kitten in her lap and edging her cloak off.

The Occlus rumbled, and she smiled softly, leaning her head back and closing her eyes as the vibrations changed as the starship entered hyperspace. They were safe and free now. The door to the refresher opened a few minutes later but she didn’t look up.

She heard an exasperated sigh as Jesse entered, and she sheepishly grinned at him. He reached over to help get her cloak over her injured arm, and then pulled the soaking cloak out of the shower, tossing it into the laundry basket stuffed into the corner of the ‘fresher.

He returned, sitting down just outside the shower as the water ran over her and the kitten. Grime streamed away from its fur, and she ran the fingers of her uninjured arm through it’s fur, cleaning out as much of it as it could. The kitten flailed, but it was warming up under the hot water, its grey fur slowly becoming visible.

Jesse gestured for her arm, and she held it out to him. He had shucked off his armor, but left his blacks on, and he set her arm on his thigh so he could wrap up the injury. His hands were firm and practiced, and yet his touch against her arm was still gentle. 

She turned back to the kitten. It was truly tiny: its eyes weren’t even open yet. It flailed, and as the water flattened fur that was no longer filled with sludge and dirt, its ribs became visible. Miyala picked it up, leaning back against the shower all was she placed the kitten on her chest, cooing at it, trying to soothe it.

Jesse inhaled sharply, and she looked over at him questioningly, but only saw him watching her. There was something new in his eyes, something she couldn’t define, but whatever he was feeling disappeared from his eyes as he met her gaze. “No more trying to carry droids, maybe?” he asked softly. A spark of mischief entered his eyes, and he added, “It seems pride comes before the fall.”

Miyala glared at him, but a laugh shattered her fierce mien. “You’re terrible. And alright. Maybe you have a point.” She looked back down at the kitten on her chest, and then, changing the subject said, “We’ll need to get her veterinary care and some sort of formula. For now though... We have milk in the conservator, right?”

“We do,” Jesse confirmed, “You’re thinking of keeping her then?” The shower stall creaked as he leaned on it, watching her with the kitten.

She looked back up at him, and nodded. “I think so.” He smiled as she stroked her fingers over the kitten’s fur, the indecipherable look back once more.

His eyes narrowed sharply, and then he said, “Miyala, turn towards me?”

She raised her brows, but did as he asked. “You’ve got another cut,” he said. “Lean towards me?”

She complied, moving out from under the water and towards him, moving the kitten back to her lap. Jesse reached out, one hand cradling her chin. She hissed as he used his thumb to spread antiseptic on the cut under her eye and he quietly apologized before reaching for the bacta, which soothed the sting.

“The droid gave as good as it got,” she said as he finished. His hands lingered, cupping her chin and cheek, before Jesse hurriedly pulled them back.

“You’ll be fine,” he replied. “Hand me the kitten? I’ll dry her off and look for something she can eat.”

Miyala pouted teasingly, pulling the kitten closer to her before grinning and handing her to Jesse. “I’ll get changed, and join you in the kitchen.” Her robes likely held more water than Kamino at this point. She stood up, grimacing as the heavy waterlogged cloth tried to hold her down.

Jesse nodded, backing away, and left, closing the door behind him after grabbing a towel to wrap the kitten in. Miyala stared at the closed door, and dropped her head, kicking the water at her feet. He was a good man. Gruff, sometimes, but he always meant well.

She squashed the line of thought before it could go further and carefully squeezed out of the rest of her clothes, kicking them into a corner of the shower as she turned the water off. She’d grab them later, but for now they could drain there.

She wrapped a towel around herself, and slipped into her cabin to seek out her sleeping clothes. She slipped happily into the soft pale blue fabric, and then wrapped a light blanket around her shoulders like a cloak before making her way to the kitchen.

Jesse had the kitten wrapped snugly in the towel, held in his arms, and was quietly talking to her, too quiet for her to hear. He had found a syringe, and was using it to feed the kitten, and Miyala slipped onto a stool across the island from where he was standing.

He smiled sheepishly at her, and when she held her arms out, made his way around the island to hand her the kitten. “You going to name her?” He stood a little bit behind her, and rested his hand on her left shoulder, watching the kitten over her shoulder.

Miyala used her thumb to stroke the fur on top of her head, the grey fur starting to fluff out as it dried. “Well, I found her in a bag of concrete, and she’s been holding up pretty well, and she’s grey, so…. Concrete?”

He nodded, and then moved back in front of her, holding his hands out. She handed Concrete back, and then pillowed her head on her uninjured forearm, drifting off she watched her partner feed Concrete. Something had changed, but as she slipped off into dreams, she decided it likely wasn’t important.


End file.
